Residents protested Tuesday against the LA City Council’s decision to end the eviction moratorium created due to the pandemic. Anoushah Rasta reports for the NBC4 News on Oct. 4, 2022.
Renter eviction protections adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic will come to an end next year after the move received approval from the Los Angeles City Council.
Landlords can resume rent increases on rent-controlled aparments, starting in February 2024. Rent-controlled residences account for three-quarters of apartments in Los Angeles.
The eviction protections made available as part of measures designed to ease the financial impact of the pandemic. It was one of the most sweeping pandemic-era tenant protections in the country, staying in place for about two years.
The motion submitted to the city council included recommendations, such as relocation assistance for all evictions deemed no-fault evictions and protections against no-fault evictions for unauthorized pets for an additional year.
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Tenants who have missed payments since March 2020 would have to meet two re-payment deadlines. Under state law, they would have until Aug. 1, 2023 to pay back missed rent between March 1, 2020 and Sept. 30, 2021. Under the city's moratorium, tenants would have until Feb. 1, 2024 to re-pay rent accumulated from Oct. 1, 2021 to Feb. 1, 2023.
Council President Nury Martinez called the vote a compromise that "preserves the livelihood of our renters while still transitioning from COVID-era protections to permanent tenant protections.''
"We cannot let this burden fall on either side, whether it's the tenants or the mom-and-pop landlords,'' Martinez said. "This policy that was put into place two years ago was intended solely to keep people housed and keep them off the streets. Now it is time that we not only keep people off the streets, but we also protect people's housing and preserve their financial well-being.''
As in previous meetings discussing the eviction moratorium, the committee heard from a mix of tenants in favor of extending protections and mom-and-pop landlords asking to end the moratorium.
"There is enough on both sides here for people to be unhappy with," Councilmember Gil Cedillo said. "This is probably the best deal that we could put together."
Cedillo added the challenge that confronts the council is "how do we walk away from this pandemic?''
"It's unknowing. It will be difficult. It will not be precise or exact," Cedillo said. "But we have to be as nuanced as we can be, as thoughtful as we can be. It's broad brushed, but we have to pay attention to the corners, the details, because not one size fits all.''
